The Mask
by littlp
Summary: Another one I wrote a long time ago. I chose to put the scene when Erik takes Christine to his lair, using Leroux's version as the main inspiration. It's quite long but I hope that you fellow readers will be able to get through it. If you can't, it would


The Mask

When the music stopped  
His form crept into my vision  
My Angel of Music.... is a man!  
Not the bodiless form that he had lead me to believe in  
But a real man in living flesh!  
My heart swelled with happiness  
For this meant that I didn't have to worry  
About him disappearing into the heavens  
But, my heart sunk  
Who was this man?  
He obviously knows all about me  
He knows that Papa had promised to send the Angel of Music  
Down to me when he died  
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to teach me  
He knows my thoughts, my feelings,  
My fears  
Yet... I know nothing about him  
Oh, this is so confusing!  
Should I trust this man?  
Who lied to me,  
Yet helped me fulfill my wildest dreams  
He is waiting for me, hand outstretched  
Looking at him, I see that he is wearing a hat  
That covers half his face  
He is dressed in evening clothes  
Like he is going to the Opera  
The most startling thing about his appearance  
Is the gleaming white mask that hides the other half of his face  
Why does he feel that he must hide his face from me?  
My curiosity gets the better of me and I put my hand onto his  
He gently closes his fingers on my hand and starts to pull me into the  
darkness  
I panic, as the reality of the situation hits me  
He sings  
Transfixed, my body gradually loosens up  
He continues to sing a haunting melody  
Beautiful words, despairing melody  
I become drunk on his voice  
He leads me effortlessly through the labyrinth  
I become drowsy, my eyelids begin to droop  
Suddenly, I'm in his arms, without a single faltering note  
Giving evidence of his extra burden  
I lean my head against his shoulder  
Soon, the gentle vibration from his throat puts me to sleep

When I awaken, I find myself in a long boat  
Groggily sitting up, my eyes meet his  
I lose myself in those gentle yellow orbs  
Searching for the man whom I knew as my Angel  
We stayed like this for what seemed like hours  
I, looking for an Angel  
He, looking for a glimpse of hope  
It is broken by my question  
"Angel, where are you taking me?"  
Still gazing at me with those catlike eyes  
He sighs before replying  
"To my house."  
Now I realize that he is rowing across a lake  
A black, glossy lake  
With huge, white candles lighting the way  
He is studying my face  
Trying to decipher my reaction at this  
But I keep my expressions as masked as his face  
"Who are you?"  
Again, he sighs before answering, but this time  
It seemed to come from the depths of his very soul  
"I am Erik."  
I detect a twinge of fear in his voice,  
As if he is afraid that I will reject him  
Though I know I should be wary  
I find myself inching towards him  
"Were you my Angel?"  
He stops rowing,  
Looks at me with deep sorrow,  
As he replies,  
"I was your Angel, my dear Christine,  
I do hope that I can continue to be your tutor,  
Even if I can not be your Angel any longer"   
He holds my gaze as I contemplate his response  
His eyes held a beseeching look  
Begging me to forgive him for his deception  
Asking to give him another chance  
I will do anything to hear his voice again!  
But I want to know what lies beneath that mask  
Its very presence infuriates me more than his deception  
Why must he hide from me?  
I reach out, he takes my hand  
"Christine, you must never look beneath the mask  
For those who do, remain here forever, never returning  
To the world above"  
His touch is bitterly cold  
I shudder and jerk my hand out of his grasp  
He picks up the oars  
Rows at a fast pace  
Until we reach the dock  
He leaps out, graceful as a cat  
Moors the boat, gives the rope a final tug  
Making sure that it is secure  
Then stands, waiting  
I realize that he is facing a dilemma within  
He wants to act like a gentleman and offer his hand  
But is afraid of my earlier reaction to his cold touch  
I stand, unsteadily and begin to walk towards the dock  
I am almost there, when suddenly the boat wobbles dangerously  
My arms fail, I feel my body falling  
My mouth opens to emit a shocked scream  
When a pair of arms slips under mine  
Lifts my body out of the boat  
Onto the dock next to Erik  
I instinctively cling to him  
Trembling from head to foot   
For unbeknownst to him  
I didn't know how to swim!  
He stands still, tensely  
As if he doesn't know how to react  
I whisper reverently  
"Thank you for saving me,  
my angel"  
I feel a gentle pressure on my back  
As he lightly touches my hair  
Whispers in my ear  
"Anytime, mon chere"  
I cling to him, afraid of falling into the water  
He gently traces the outline of my hair down to my backbone  
All too soon he says, breaking the soft moment between us  
"It is getting quite chilly. Come,  
let me show you my home."  
He leads me toward a dark shadow  
I stay close to him  
My childhood fear of the dark  
Striking my grown-up mind  
Makes me tremble, quake with fear  
After a few clicks, we are inside  
His house is pleasantly warm  
Numerous candles light it  
Covered in glass, to prevent a fire  
I take this opportunity  
To get a closer look at my host  
He is tall, skinny  
Yet has an aura of power around him  
His choice color this evening is black  
He takes off his hat and bows to me  
Showing thinning black hair  
And the majestic air around him  
As he causes the cape  
To flourish magnificently around his body  
His eyes never leave my face  
I start to feel weak  
My knees begin to shake  
The left half, the uncovered half  
Is contorted with concern and compassion  
While that right side, the masked side  
Cold, unyielding to feeling  
Remains expressionless, except for his eyes  
"What is the matter, Christine?"  
I feel lightheaded  
Why do I feel this way?  
I can't look away from that mask  
It's teasing me, taunting me  
I begin to fall again  
Erik catches me, carries me to a sofa  
I grab his shirt, refusing to let him go  
He looks at me, bewildered, frightened  
I peer into his eyes, study my reflection  
He is breathing heavily  
"Christine,"  
I let go, he inches away  
I sigh, close my eyes  
"Angel, why have you brought me here?"  
He kneels, looks at the floor  
"You shall learn that in time  
It grows late, my dear  
Would you like me to sing to you?"  
I nod my head, and close my eyes  
As his voice takes over my senses

When I awaken  
I find my self in a huge bed  
With red flowers all around  
It takes a second for me to realize where I am  
I recall the previous night's experience  
Realize I'm still in the gala dress  
I stretch, step out of the bed  
My eye finds a piece of parchment  
On an expensive writing desk  
I pick it up and read the red ink  
My dear Christine,  
You shall find some dresses  
In the closet  
Feel free to help yourself to whatever you choose  
I have gone to run some errands  
I shall be back shortly  
Take this time to bathe, get dressed  
And prepare yourself for your voice lesson  
Sincerely,  
Erik  
Like a robot, I follow his instructions  
True to his word, there were several  
Expensive dresses  
All tailored to fit my exact measurements  
A door to the left showed me  
A very nice bathroom  
With a marble tub  
And several expensive soaps  
Perfumes, brushes, hair things  
Fit for a queen!  
After bathing, I put on a blue dress  
Let my hair fall down my back  
I hear three soft taps on the wall  
"Come in"  
Erik emerges through a door  
That my wandering eyes had bypassed  
He carried several long boxes  
Places them on the bed  
Turns to me, draws in a breath  
"You look wonderful, Christine"  
I blush, look at my feet  
"I hope you slept well"  
"I did"  
I fiddle with my hair  
Unsure of what to say  
"Are you hungry"  
I looked up, nodded  
"Come with me,  
Your breakfast awaits"  
He steps aside,  
Waits for me to go first  
I find a table, filled with numerous  
Breakfast items, with tantalizing smells  
I sit down, Erik sits across from me  
I help myself to a little of everything  
"This is very good!"  
He smiles, blushing slightly  
"I do have other talents  
Besides singing, Christine"  
I questioned him on his past  
He patiently answered all my questions  
I discovered that he was fluent in over 30 languages  
That he helped to create the Paris Opera House  
How he was a magician  
He told me many fascinating tales  
About his journeys through many countries  
Yet, I sensed that he was leaving parts out  
Terrible memories of the past  
For, sometimes, he would sigh deeply  
After telling a tale, as if the memory hurt  
After finishing my breakfast, I asked  
If he was going to eat anything  
He replied, with a dark chuckle  
"I have already eaten, my dear.  
You don't have to worry about my well-being"  
Perplexed, I asked if I could help with the dishes  
He quickly answered no, and started clearing the table  
I rose, and walked around, studying the many paintings  
Of castles, fields, storms  
In the corner, is a huge organ  
Wandering over, I lightly brush my fingers over the keys  
I notice several music sheets with red notes dotted everywhere  
I picked one up and read   
"Don Juan Triumphant"  
This must be a composition of his  
I hum the tune, it is very complex  
Filled with numerous feelings  
I start to sing the words  
"What are you doing"  
I jump, startled, drop the score  
He picks it up, looks at me  
"How do you like my Opera?"  
I look at him, wondering what he was thinking  
That white mask, glinting in the candlelight  
"I like what I've seen. Will you play it for me?"  
He sits on the stool, sighs that heavy sigh of his  
"That is one thing you can never ask me to do.  
My Don Juan burns, Christine. It would make your  
Heart quake. Your soul is too innocent, too pure  
For my Don Juan."  
I am insulted  
I turn my back on him  
Whispering furiously,  
"How come I am so innocent,  
so pure, that you can't even show your face?  
How gullible do you think I am?"  
I hadn't meant for Erik to hear me,  
But he did.  
"I have told you, Christine  
the consequences of seeing my face  
Once a woman has seen my face, she can never return  
To her world.  
You have no idea how many have seen,  
How many have perished soon after."  
I whirl around, to find that he was standing directly behind me  
There is an unmistakable look of anger in his eyes  
I become nervous, but I can't stop myself  
"How do I know that you are going to let me back up?  
How can you expect me to trust you  
When you hide your face from me?  
It seems like I already don't have a choice!"  
Before either of us could react,  
I tore off his mask and dropped it on the floor  
I don't know which was worse  
That first horrible sight of his deformed face  
Or the howl of anger and pain  
That he emitted when I backed away  
"Oh you foolish girl! Why? Is this what you wanted to see?  
You think I'm quite handsome, eh? This is what the mask was hiding!  
Did you expect an angel's face? What a surprise this must be for you!"  
I cowered in the corner, trying to hide myself from his rage  
He stood over me, yelling, cursing, weeping  
He fell to the floor, weeping at my feet  
"Christine, why? Why? Why? Why couldn't you leave my mask?  
Why did you have to see?"  
I was weeping as hard as he was, squeezing my eyes shut  
"I tried to warn you! I tried to protect you from this!"  
I felt so horrible at what I had done  
I had no right to snatch his mask off  
I slowly lifted up my head  
He was still unmasked, tears running down his sunken cheeks  
From the gaping sockets where his eyes rested  
Now I knew why he hid from me  
There are numerous scars, possibly from hard labor  
I wondered, how could a person's face  
Be deformed so hideously  
As his?  
I wasn't prepared for something like this!  
Overcoming my repulsion,  
I stretch my hand out and gently brush his face  
He jerks, looks at my hand bewildered  
He must have never felt tenderness  
Towards his deformed face before  
My heart tightens as I think of what horrors  
He must have had to endure because of his face  
"Erik!" I cried  
"Show your face without fear!  
Whenever I shudder at you  
It will be from sheer awe  
At your genius!"  
He breaks down,  
Weeps at my feet  
Takes the hem of my dress  
Kisses it  
I hand him the mask  
"You don't have to hide from me  
But I realize that you might want  
To hide from the world  
Though they are missing  
A great opportunity  
To meet a great man  
And experience his works"  
He looks at me, bewildered  
Yet, there is an unmistakable shine in his eyes  
A glimmer of hope, a sparkle of happiness  
That someone could see past his face  
And see the real man that he was.


End file.
